Strangers
by Iknowyoulovemexoxo
Summary: Stephanie's evening plans have been torn up as she has to work but when she finds that she is faced with somebody she doesn't want to deal with can she get through it alone or will help come from the most unexpected source?


I have no idea where the idea for this one-shot came from but hopefully you enjoy it all the same :)

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Staring at her computer screen was starting to make Stephanie go cross eyed so she decided to go home on time for a change and finish it in the morning or if she so desired she would work on it a bit later but first she wanted dinner and a long hot bath.

Closing down her computer she had everything packed up and was just about to pull on her jacket and leave when her boss walked in the room, "I'm just headed out John."

Slapping a file on her desk he shook his head, "No you're not, you have another meeting now."

Looking at her watch she frowned, "Now?! It's nearly six o'clock."

"Okay technically not now exactly." Breathing a sigh of relief she was glad that her early night was still on but the relief didn't last long as apparently he wasn't finished talking, "Technically it's not 'now' because it is at seven and it's in that trendy bar across town, it's called 'No Name Bar', do you know the one?"

Nodding her head slowly she still didn't know why this was being forced on her when there were much more senior employees of the company who normally dealt with this sort of thing, "I know the one but why me?"

Shrugging his shoulders John was already on his way out of the room, "I don't know, I just know they asked for you to work on the file. Oh by the way, if I were you I'd go home and change, you'd look out of place dressed like that there."

Biting down on her lip so hard that she could taste blood she resisted the urge to talk back to him or throw something at his head as he walked away from her and instead settled for muttering, "Assholes." It wasn't that she had anybody to go home to because she had broken up with her boyfriend a week previously, she just didn't want to spend her evening in a bar discussing business with some stranger when she would much rather soak in a bath and spend the time alone.

Pulling on her jacket she shoved the file in her bag to read and get up to speed on the tube ride home where she would have to quickly change and run a brush through her hair and hopefully she'd have time to add some make-up to her look before she had to leave again.

It was dangerously close to seven o'clock when she arrived outside of the bar, she didn't even know who she was looking for but she assumed they would know who they were looking for as they had asked for her by name. Straightening the hem of the skirt on her dress she had one final look at herself in the window of the bar to make sure she was presentable before she pushed open the door raking her fingers though her hair as she walked in and went straight for the bar, "I'll have an orange juice please."

Within a minute she had her orange juice in front of her and she turned to see if anybody was looking for her but they weren't however she did notice that it was pretty quiet but she put that down to it being quite early but the quiet suited her as it would make her meeting easier to conduct. Making her way over to a quieter table in the back she set her orange juice on the table before she got herself comfortable with the file in front of her and facing the door so she could see who entered.

About ten minutes after her arrival the door opened and a gentleman walked in with a woman on his arm, looking away from them briefly she rolled her eyes. She hoped that they sat far away from her as she was not in the mood to deal with loving couples as her break up was pretty raw considering she found out that he had cheated on her and wasn't very apologetic about it either. Turning her attention back towards the door she noticed the couple moving closer to her and as they did she saw them clearer and saw exactly who the man was and it was her ex-boyfriend, all blonde, muscled, six foot something of him, this could not be happening to her right now. Picking up her glass she was suddenly feeling rather thirsty and she downed most of the remainder of the glass of orange juice in one go as she averted her eyes and said a silent prayer to the God's that he did not notice her.

"Stephanie, it's so good to see you."

Forcing a smile on her face she turned to look at him, "Yeah, you too. If you don't mind I am here on business and they're due any moment."

"Oh I know, that's me. Meet my girlfriend Abbie, I hope you don't mind that I brought her along, it's just we have plans after and I thought that it would be easier if she just came with me."

Keeping the forced smile on her face she shook her head, "Of course not." Downing the rest of he orange juice she needed something stronger, "If you'll excuse me I just need a refill on my drink, can I get you anything?"

"No no, we're okay for now thank you."

Taking her glass with her to the bar she all but slammed it down on the bar, "Kill me now."

The barman appeared in front of her with a smile on his face, "What's wrong?"

"My ex-boyfriend cheated on me, we split up a week ago and he has just turned up with his new girlfriend on his arm for a business meeting that I was specifically asked for. Now please give me a shot or ten of something strong and refill my orange juice and include some alcohol in it too please, the stronger it all is the better."

Taking her glass he soon returned and place a double shot of whiskey in front of her, "This is on the house." Leaving again briefly he placed a new glass of orange juice in front of her, "Orange juice with a touch or so of vodka."

Downing the whiskey she paid for her drinks, "I don't suppose you care to join me do you?"

Laughing the barman shook his head and motioned around, "Sorry but I have work to do, good luck though."

Picking up her glass she nodded her head, she needed more than luck to get through this though. Sitting back down at the table she took a sip of her drink before she placed it down, "Sorry about that, I couldn't get away because you know what barmen are like when it's quiet, they need to talk to somebody. So what can I do for you?"

He'd followed a couple through the door of the bar and the gentleman had immediately irritated him with the way he spoke about his ex, no woman deserved to be spoken about like that. His attention was taken away from the conversation when he spotted her, she had immediately caught his attention from across the bar and he was captivated by her beauty. He needed to know more about her and he knew the opportunity would come for him to hopefully find out all he needed to know, he just had to be patient and play the waiting game to see if a boyfriend joined her.

Positioning himself close by her at the bar he listened intently to her conversation before he watched her walking away. His attention was drawn away from the mystery woman to the barman when he cleared his throat, "Gorgeous isn't she?"

Nodding his head absently as he turned to look at him he nodded his head, "Yeah. Can I just have an orange juice please?"

"Sure."

A minute later he had himself an orange juice as he very much wanted to be clear headed when he hopefully got to meet her face to face. Taking a deep breath he walked over to the table that she was sat at, "Baby I'm so sorry I'm early but I finished all of my work and I just couldn't wait for your call to come and see you." Bending down he pressed a kiss to her cheek whispering, "Call me your saviour."

Smiling at the stranger as he placed his glass on the table and pulled out a seat she couldn't deny that the stranger was attractive and the look on her ex's face definitely didn't harm the situation either, "That's okay handsome, I would never say no to your company and you know it." Leaning closer she pressed a soft kiss to his lips, "Just sit there and look pretty whilst I finish this work off and then I'm all yours, all night long."

Wiggling his eyebrows playfully he smirked and pretended to zip his lips shut and lock them before he got comfortable in the chair enjoying the look of pure irritation on the face of the other guy.

As the meeting continued Stephanie couldn't help but relax knowing that her ex did not have the upper hand any longer, he had clearly arranged it all to make her feel uncomfortable and bad about herself but whoever this stranger was he was her saviour as he had put an end to it all. Discussing the simple details she relaxed back in her chair and reached across taking the stranger's hand in hers slipping her fingers through his and holding it gently looking at his face nervously for any signs of a problem but he just flashed her a wink the most beautiful smile she had ever seen and she relaxed focussing her attention back on her ex.

When the meeting ended she let go of his hand and stood up to say goodbye shaking his hand before smiling politely at the girlfriend, whatever she was called anyway, "I will find out the necessary details and have this all written up and email it all over to you tomorrow as I am going to have a nice evening with my boyfriend now. Maybe the next meeting could be done during the actual work day so it doesn't cut into either of our evenings and you won't have to wait to find out the answers to your questions"

"Yeah, I'm sorry about this but my boss was on my back to get this done as soon as possible so we both had to take time out of our evening to do this but thank you and I look forward to receiving your email." Shaking her hand he nodded politely at the other guy, "Have a good evening the both of you."

Sitting down she watched her ex walk away breathing a sigh of relief. Spinning around in her chair she was just about to thank him for saving her when his hand found its way behind her neck and he pulled her closer and began to kiss her, she wanted to push him away but she found herself melting and her arms took on a life of their own wrapping around his neck holding him close. When he pulled away she bit down on her lip and blushed looking down at the floor embarrassed by letting herself get carried away by the kiss.

Hooking his finger beneath her chin he raised her head so he could look into her eyes, "I'm sorry about that, he was watching us from outside and I just wanted to make it authentic for you so he believed that we were together." Almost as an afterthought he decided to explain himself, "By the way, before you think I'm some creep for what I did I was stood by you at the bar and heard your story and thought I would do a good deed by pretending to be your boyfriend and judging by your ex's reaction he was not expecting it nor was he happy about it, if I was to take any guesses about this entire evening I would say it was a plot on his behalf to make you feel bad about yourself and to rub in your face that he had moved on already."

Tucking a lock of hair behind his ear as it fell out of his ponytail and over his eyes she felt relieved that he wasn't a total creep but was just being kind, "Thank you for that but I'm sure your actual girlfriend won't be best pleased with what just happened between us. I am grateful to you for everything you did tonight because Ashley or Amy or Annie or whatever the hell she was called was the woman that he cheated on me with so I really did want to slap them both and it was getting harder the more she looked at me all smug."

"I'm sure she wouldn't be pleased, if I actually had one but I am single. I am happy that I could help you out tonight because as hot as a cat fight is you're better than that and those people. Seeing as you're such a good kisser and we seem to make a believable couple why don't we get to know each other a little and see where it takes us?"

Biting down on her lip nervously it was one thing playing boyfriend and girlfriend for an hour but it was another to actually go out on a date but if her ex could move on so could she. Taking a deep breath she smiled and held out her hand towards him, "Hi, my name is Stephanie."

Smiling brightly he took her hand in his and raised it to his lips kissing the back of it, "It's very nice to meet you Stephanie, my name is Paul."


End file.
